Under the Order of the Phoenix
by Night Hawk4
Summary: A young girl named Ray has a dream about a bird of prey attacking. When she wakes up, she finds that she's been accepted at Hogwarts. Five years later, there are recent rumors of bird attacks on Hufflepuff students. R/H


Under the Order of the Phoenix  
  
By Night Hawk  
  
A girl wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a light brown halter- top stood square-legged, staring at the ground in front of her. Her gaze slowly rose above the horizon and closer to the sun. Her vision grazed the massive ball of light and soon she was staring straight up at the blue, cloudless sky.  
  
A rather large bird soared right across her view. She assumed it to be a bird of prey, judging by the way it was circling. The circling started to narrow in as the bird pinpricked its prey. Suddenly, it dove---  
  
A piercing scream echoed, killing all other sound.  
  
I woke up panting, sweating profusely. I had this rather ominous feeling that something had happened, I just didn't know what. It felt unbelievably hot in my room. My heart was beating wildly; I was breathing unnaturally fast. I sat up; my bedclothes were drenched. I quickly changed into another pair of PJ's and knelt down to check the time. 6:31 AM. Just as I was about to turn my alarm off, when suddenly something flew through my open window---  
  
It crashed into my wall; feathers and a bit of something else littered my floor. I soon realized it was an owl. Strange, I thought, an owl in my room- I ambled over to it and checked to see if it was in tact. It had apparently been in a fight- slash marks and.some other type of abrasion covered its back. A few cuts were open, so I went quickly to my bathroom to get any ointment I could find.  
  
I rubbed the ointment over the owl's back, surprised it hadn't flown away already; it was hooting softly, obviously in pain. I looked at its feet, or talons, rather; one looked broken, so I wrapped a bit of cloth from my bed dress around it. The other seemed to be holding some kind of-NOTE!  
  
Oh my God, I thought, someone wrote me a note and sent it by owl! This is so cool! I eased the note out of the tensed, tightly closed talons and unrolled it. I placed it on the floor and helped the bird up; I fed it some grain and released it outside, where it flew lopsidedly. Then I went back to the note.  
  
It read,  
  
"HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY  
~  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump,  
International Confed. of Wizards)  
  
Dear Ms. Avonlea,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no  
later than July 31.  
Yours Sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall  
Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress"  
  
I stared openmouthed, amazed, at the letter. Words cannot describe how I felt. I read and reread the letter, hoping to make some sense of it. Finally I went to ask my parents. They were both asleep, so I woke my mother up. "Mom! Mom! Look at this letter I got!!"  
  
Her eyes flickered open and she looked at me groggily. "Can't this wait?" she asked.  
  
"Mom, this is very important! I've been accepted at some school" -I looked at the letter- "Hogwarts or something."  
  
My mother's eyes widened larger than I've ever seen them. "Where.did that come from? Was it in the post?"  
  
"Uhm, no, some owl just flew into my window.it was in his talons."  
  
Suddenly my mother sat up and embraced me, a tear falling down her cheek and into her lap. She said, "Ray!! Oh, I'm so happy for you! I never thought you'd be accepted.but you were! You were!"  
  
I was utterly confused. She obviously could tell.  
  
"I guess we never got around to telling you how we met, did we..." she asked. With that, my father turned over, awake as well.  
  
"No, we chose not to, because we wanted to raise you in the muggle world. but you see, Ray, your mother and I.we're wizards. Well, she's a witch of course."  
  
I blinked and cocked my head.  
  
"I'm too tired to explain.I'm leaving the rest up to your mother. Congratulations, Rachel. I'm very proud of you."  
  
I looked to my mother.  
  
"You see," she said, "Hogwarts is a school that teaches, well, magic. They only accept students that show signs of being able to do magic. And apparently, you have."  
  
"But, Mom, why didn't you ever...tell me? If our family is. 'magical', then why didn't I know?"  
  
"Remember when we went to that dinner party? And that lady was walking in a dress that had a train? She was about to step on it when-"  
  
"When I wished she wouldn't," I said. A wave of realization hit me.  
  
"We weren't sure you'd get into Hogwarts, having been raised as a muggle and all." came her mother's response.  
  
"Muggle?" I asked.  
  
"Non-magical folk," my dad interjected. Apparently he couldn't get back to sleep. "The people all around you.your school friends. Most of them, that is."  
  
And so I was introduced to a whole new world, practically another dimension of people, places, things, and emotions.  
  
But I still didn't know some things. and I had tons to learn. Why was I raised muggle if my parents were magical? And why was I chosen for Hogwarts? And eventually, I wondered why my parents left the magical world. When I asked, a look of sadness came upon my mother's face. "You have a lot to learn, Ray. Maybe after this year's done, you'll understand. Go turn your alarm off" (for I hadn't gotten the chance to turn it off) "and get ready to go to Diagon Alley."  
  
"What-" I was about to ask.  
  
"You'll see."  
  
Hours later, I was at a bank with things I'd only seen in the movie theatre, a wand shop called Olivanders, a store that sold strange, unusual animals, an eccentric pub, anything you can imagine. I now knew that I was in for an experience that would change my life.  
  
Six hours ago, I was an ordinary girl asleep in my own muggle world. My life was now changed immensely. My question now is, has it changed for the better?  
  
Five Years, One Month Later  
  
Rumors are flying around Hogwarts- it seems that there's been another bird attack. It's always the Hufflepuff students- I don't know why!! It's been bothering me for a long while, why Hufflepuffs? Why at all? Are those attack birds doing it on their own will, or perhaps on someone else's bidding? If so, whose?  
  
I sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall along with a few of my friends, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender. Ron and Hermione were in another argument about something stupid, most likely the house elves. Harry rolled his eyes at me. I gave him a feeble smile. "They need to get a room," I said.  
  
He laughed and nudged me. "They have quite a strange way of flirting, those two," he said, laughing.  
  
"Au contraire!" I exclaimed. "It's quite normal for lovebirds to have arguments like such. But seriously, why in public, twenty-four seven?"  
  
"Ah, kids," said Harry.  
  
"Kids? You weren't all too withdrawn yourself last week at the Three Broomsticks- you and Cho were flirting up a storm!"  
  
Harry blushed and a dreamy look crossed his eyes followed by a sudden solemn one. "We're allowed to. At least it's not in public, well, in front of everyone," he said.  
  
I laughed and shook my head. We went back to breakfast.  
  
A few days later, I walked into the Gryffindor Dorms after many hours of studying for an upcoming Potions test. I saw Harry sitting in one of the armchairs near the fire with his head in his hands.  
  
"What happened to you?" I asked. "Oh.wait.does it involve a certain sixth year that we all know?"  
  
"Harry looked up at me. His deep, handsome eyes were filled with grief. "Cho dumped me today. Need I say more?" he asked.  
  
I nodded, a frown appearing on my face. My bottom lip stuck out and I jumped into his lap. I whispered into his ear, "Poor Harry."  
  
I rubbed him behind the ear. "You'll feel better. She only dumped you 'cause she can't handle a guy for more than a week- then she's off to another," I said. "You'll be okay, I promise."  
  
Harry's look of sadness slowly slipped away. "Ah! You're heavy! Big butt!" he said, a slow, clumsy smile creeping up his face. "Get off me! You're too big to sit on my lap!" he chuckled.  
  
I didn't oblige. "You know you like it," I said, laughing.  
  
Harry shook his head, a full grin on his face now. He, having Quidditch muscles, picked me up and placed me on the armchair across from his. I laughed and asked, "Where's Hermy? Haven't seen her all day."  
  
"She's at the library, most likely helping Ron with that new class he's taking up. Snogging, I believe it is?"  
  
We both laughed and I nodded in agreement.  
  
"Sick mental picture!" we both exclaimed. After a final round of laughter, Harry got up and stretched. I swear I saw part of his six pack.  
  
"Well, I'm off to bed," he said good-heartedly. "Thanks, Ray. I mean it. You always cheer me up."  
  
I smiled, got up as well, and patted his back. "I should be too. We've got Quidditch practice tomorrow! Can't forget!"  
  
We hugged goodnight and left for bed.  
  
Laying in my four-poster bed, I stared up at the ceiling happily and thought of the day that I received my invitation to Hogwarts. How happy my parents were that day.they were so proud.  
  
Then suddenly something struck me and my heart filled my throat as I remembered that dream I had that very morning.the one I thought so irrelevant.  
  
And I thought of the attacks on the students..  
  
I quickly got up and got dressed and headed towards Dumbledore's office. 


End file.
